My background

The first leg of my training was Humanistic and took an integrative
approach which drew mainly on psychodynamic principles in which the
counsellor uses a wealth of knowledge and strategies to help the
client find their way. In the mid 90’s as I completed my
qualification as an integrative counsellor I discovered the work of
Carl Rogers,
the founder of the
Person Centred Approach
to Counselling. His work spoke to me and I realised that I believed
with a passion in the resilience, resources and potential of each
living being, rather than my own expertise as a therapist to know
the way for others.

And so began the next phase of my training and development. I
explored Person Centred Theory in depth, and accessed much Person
Centred training with people who had trained under Rogers to help
me develop as a therapist and to continue developing my personal awareness.

The first decade of my career was spent managing a busy town centre drop
in and counselling service. This was a steep and rewarding learning
curve which has given me a solid foundation in working with a wide
breadth of clients many of them suffering from
anxiety, depression and other mental health issues. During this period of time I became involved
in Women’s Aid and worked a great deal with survivors of domestic
violence and childhood abuse.

Over the next decade I had some amazing opportunities, not least four
separate stints delivering
training abroad. Here I delivered training to teams of counsellors to develop their work
in their own communities with sufferers of HIV, AIDS, child prostitution and
drug addiction. These were in Namibia, South Africa and Tenerife and were times of huge personal
and professional growth for me. The greatest learning was working
across cultures, not in the comfort zone of my own cultural setting, but experiencing being the
minority in cultural settings different to my own.

I spent the this decade in Further Education facilitating on, and
for a time leading, the Advanced Diploma in Person Centred Counselling
programme on a BACP accredited course, while continuing to build my
private practice. I left this post ten years ago. This move did not
signify any loss of passion for working with trainee counsellors or
facilitating groups but was more a decision to step away from the
organisational setting.

I carried on in private practice working with a wide spectrum of
clients which continues to this day. Since 2007 one strand of my work
has been in collaboration with a young persons’ drug and alcohol service
in the role of family therapist. My work has involved developing Family
Therapy which is rooted in Person-Centred theory and seeks to meet
families where they are in the vastly changed landscape of family
culture. Having developed and matured a way of working, and written
up the underpinning theory, I am now involved in the training and
supervision of other family workers.

I have always had a strong interest in the role of animals and their
benefits in a therapeutic situation. I have read and researched widely
over many years. So in the summer of 2015 I became the owner of two
adorable cockapoo puppies whom I have been busy socialising and training
to work in a variety of settings, not least my own counselling room for
those who wish to access their support.